General

Sibol: Economic Empowerment for Young and Women Agriculturists Sibol aims primarily to promote the economic empowerment ofyoung and women farmers through (1) access to enablingtechnologies, support networks, and information channels, (2) skillsdevelopment on technology, agriculture, and entrepreneurship, and(3) support provision in developing successful business plans. It iswell-acknowledgedin development economics literature thatdevelopment begins with the economic empowerment of theagricultural sector. This holds trueparticularly in the Philippines,where agriculture employs almost a quarter of Filipinos despitecomprising only 10.2% of the country's GDP (ASEAN, 2020). Therise of vegetable prices vis-a-vis the wastage of vegetable suppliesamid the pandemic lockdowns in 2020 hasshown how thedisconnect between agricultural communities and economic centersthreatens to worsen the conditions not only in rural areas but alsoraise food prices, affecting the poor and marginalized the most. Butthe emergenceof efforts, particularly by young people, to reconnectagricultural communities with buyers in urban centers have shownpromise. Through patchwork efforts, vegetable produce which couldhave been wasted was sold through innovative means using digitaltechnologies, social networking and marketing, and socialentrepreneurship. Thus, an opportunity presents itself not only toadapt the agricultural sector to the realities of the New Normal, but also to reinvigorate the interest of young people to take upagriculture - a looming issue for rural communities as the averageage of farmers rise every year. Agricultural communities are someof the most disconnected in political discourse due to theireconomic vulnerability. The first step in raising their voice is toorganize and collectively act to find solutions toward their economicempowerment. Young people, with their technological savvy andvigor, and women, with their vital skills in productive work andcommunity management in agricultural communities, can herein bethe linchpins to ensure that agricultural communities can becomeresilient in the New Normal. Furthermore, supporting the economicempowerment of the young farmers can allow them to hurdle thebarriers of their lack of access to land ownership, equipment, andcapital. Economically empowering women farmers can also providethem with sufficient footing to break free from the shackles offinancial dependency in the household. With this, the Center forAgrarian Reform, Empowerment and Transformation (CARET, Inc.),together with Reboot Philippines and Roots Collective, hopes toimplement the project Sibol where young and women farmers canpromote the economic empowerment of their communities through:- Organizing Economic Service Programs (ESPs)within theirorganizations based on their community's resources and capacities- Establishing baseline digital access technologies and skills toallow their community better access amid the digital economy -Collectively determining their development trajectory throughfacilitated businessplanning - Strengthening their capacity to fulfilltheir development trajectory through skills development, linkageprograms, access to economic resources, organization growth andresilience and values formation. - Implementing their organizationalgrowth andeconomic services plans (with technical and networksupport provided by the project)

General

Eastern and Southern African Farmers Forum-Uganda (ESAFF-Uganda) is part of a regional small scale farmers# coalition established in 2002 during the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg to bring together small scale farmers, pastoralists and traditional fisher folks at different levels into a social movements with a common aspirations and ensure learning <(>&<)> linkages. ESAFF- Uganda is a partner implementing Right to Food in Uganda with the role of working with small scale farmers, consortium members of R2F project and other like-minded organizations to push for the recognition of small scale farmers# voices by organizing farmers and support their participation in high level lobby meetings, campaigns, dialogues and policy meetings. ESAFF Uganda and Oxfam In Uganda piloted the Oxfam Meaningful Community Engagement tools in Large Scale Land Based Investments in Agriculture (MECoT- LSLBI) in Amuru district in 2017, with funding from Oxfam Pan African Team. Experience of piloting the LSLBI tools in agriculture in Amuru district coupled with the trend of land dispossession from small scale farmers by private and public large-scale land investors necessitate empowering communities with practical-innovative tools and approaches that help to position them to engage meaningfully throughout the investment processes and stages for a win-win engagement. Above all, the land rights of the poor need to be protected first by the landowners themselves and other concerned stakeholders, and thisis the rationale of scaling up the LSLBI tools inAmuria.

General

Following an eight-year legal battle, the Court#s judgment finally provides a long awaited unique opportunity for enforcing the respect of the human rights of the Ogiek as well as other minority and indigenous peoples (MIPs) in Kenya, by securing their access to productive resources (land <(>&<)> water mainly), as well as by fostering space for their political participation. The first ever indigenous community rights decision of 26 May 2017, the Court formally recognised the importance of respecting indigenous communities# land rights in Africa by ruling that the Ogiek's right to their ancestral lands, and linked cultural and religious rights among others, had been violated by the Government of Kenya as a result of decades of evictions in the name of conservation. As such, the ruling provides a unique opportunity for the Ogiek to secure the recognition of their rights violated until now and in partnership withother indigenous communities in Kenya and Africa to pursue changes in the law, policy and practice governing the rights of indigenous peoples and natural resources, especially when linked to conservation building upon this historical precedent. In these favourable circumstances and within the first 12 months following the ruling, the project will ensure the rapid and effective implementation of such an exceptional decision by collectively engaging and mobilising all key identified stakeholders, to (i) facilitate and prepare the ground for the Court's forthcoming reparations order and (ii) to initiate the enforcement of the ruling, to monitor the firststeps of its implementation and pave the way for it to benefit other Minority and Indigenous communities (MIPs) in Kenya and acrossAfrica facing similar issues.